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What is it about "hopefully" that excites opprobrium? Again, resorting to my trusty Webster's Ninth New Collegiate Dictionary (a paper and cardboard copy, alas!) it lists, under "hopefully" "1: in a hopeful manner 2: it is hoped" with the addendum "usage Only the irrationally large amount of critical fire drawn by sense 2 of hopefully requires its particular recognition in a dictionary. Similar use of other adverbs (as interestingly, presumably, fortunately) as sentence modifiers is so commonplace as to excite no notice whatsoever. While it still arouses an occasional objection, hopefully as a sentence modifier has been in use at least since 1932 and is well established as standard."
Gotta love that Webster!
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